Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-five
JASON
Jason rounded the corner of the ranch house and froze at the scene in front of him. Karl’s huge, menacing bulk had Riley pinned on the ground, and his jaws were at Riley’s throat. One wrong move, and he’d be torn apart.
Jason’s wolf surged inside him, fierce and protective, a snarl curling his lip before he could stop it. Every muscle tensed, demanding he protect what was his. As he stalked forward, the hairs on the back of his neck rose, and a growl rumbled in his chest.
“Jason.” Matt’s voice cut through the haze of red, sharp and unyielding.
Jason stopped, shaking his head hard, trying to pull himself back under control as Matt seized his arm, his touch light yet firm.
“It seems writer-boy wants to see you,” Matt said, his tone neutral, though his eyes stayed hard and flat. “You don’t have to if you don’t want. Say the word, we’ll deal with him.”
Jason’s gaze flicked to Riley. Dirt streaked his clothes, and his face was tight with fear, but his gaze never left Jason’s.
Karl snarled low as he leaned in again.
“Let him go,” Jason said.
Matt nodded to Karl, who eased back just enough for Riley to scramble to his feet. There, he stood rigid as Karl circled him closely, menace still rippling through the air around him.
“Get out of here,” Matt said to Riley, his voice devoid of emotion, like he was tossing out trash.
But Riley shook his head, despite the fear so evident in him. “Only if Jason tells me to go,” he said hoarsely. “I need to talk to him.”
A sharp laugh rang out from the house. A sound so unexpected that Jason jerked around and found Jesse on the porch, leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded.
“Can’t rightly tell if he’s got rocks in his head or there’s mule blood in him,” he said, jerking his chin at Riley, in case there was any doubt who he was speaking about. “Want to put us out of our misery, Jason?”
Jesse’s eyes were filled with understanding as he met Jason’s gaze.
He knew that, despite everything, Jason couldn’t let this go.
If he did, he’d always wonder what it was Riley had wanted to say to him.
But to have given in to Riley’s pleading would have made him look weak in front of Riley and he wasn’t going to do that. Never again.
He swallowed, fighting down the tears that were threatening. “Might as well.”
The rest of the pack melted away as he walked over to Riley and looked him up and down. His shirt was ripped, presumably from Karl’s attack, and dirt was in his hair from being on the ground, but what struck Jason most was the strain in his face.
“If you’ve got something to say, get on with it,” he said abruptly.
RILEY
Jason looked like hell. He was pale, bruised under the eyes, and his mouth was tight, like he’d locked down every emotion and swallowed the key. He looked nothing like Jason—always so open and giving.
And Riley had done that to him. Fuck. It made him want to mouth off to Urban, say something deliberately offensive so that the other wolves would tear him apart here and now. It would be easier than this.
But no, he didn’t get to take the easy way out. He’d wrecked this, wrecked Jason. He was the only one who could try to fix it, no matter how hopeless it seemed.
“You know I didn’t come here to write a book,” he said, and had to clear his throat because his voice was thick. “From the start, I was here to investigate the pack. My paper heard rumors that Urban was hiding an Argent, planning to use it for leverage in the next election cycle.”
Jason let out a slow breath, and when he finally spoke, his voice was low, tired. “I worked that much out for myself.”
The words hurt. Jason sounded utterly worn out, like he couldn’t even summon the energy to be angry. As if Riley had hollowed him out and left nothing.
“I never—you were never—hell, Jason, when we met, I didn’t know you were part of the pack.
It was days before I even knew you were a shifter.
” The words spilled out, desperate, because Riley didn’t know how else to make Jason hear him.
“I swear, what was between us was real. Everything between us was real.”
Jason just looked at him, his brown eyes unreadable. “Why do you think I’d believe anything you say now?”
Something in Riley splintered, forcing words out. “Because I love you.”
He hadn’t known he was going to say it. He hadn’t even known that was what he felt, not until the words came out, sharp and undeniable.
But it didn’t change a damn thing. Jason didn’t react. No anger, no shock. Just nothing. Like Riley’s words didn’t matter. Riley had expected fury or hate, but this quiet nothing was worse than anything he’d imagined.
He struggled to recover himself. “I love you,” he repeated, and he knew it was the truth. “And you were never part of this…” Lost for the right words, he gestured around himself to indicate the pack and his story.
Jason shook his head, and Riley could read the expression in his face now. He just wished he couldn’t. Jason had already made up his mind.
“That’s the thing,” Jason said. “You won’t admit even to yourself that I’m as much a shifter as the rest of them, that they’re my pack. I read that article.” His voice sharpened. “I know what you think of us—small-town shifters, only good enough to be the punchline to jokes.”
Riley wanted to say something, though he didn’t know what. To protest, to beg? But it didn’t matter, because Jason kept going.
“For the record, if there was an Argent in the pack, there isn’t a single one of us who would use another in that way. And we sure as hell don’t want any sort of political power. We just want to be left alone by the likes of you and your damned newspaper.”
Riley nodded. His throat was aching too much for him to speak, because he was beginning to understand quite how awesomely he’d fucked up. In every single last way that defied forgiveness.
“I’m sorry,” he forced out finally, and the words sounded hollow, even to him.
Jason looked at him for a long moment, then gave a humorless, bitter smile. “I guess that’s something,” he said, before he turned and walked away.
Riley clenched his fists to stop himself reaching out. There was no point. There was nothing left to hold onto.
Jason had discovered the truth of who Riley was, the way everyone else in his life had. And the worst of it was, Riley couldn’t blame him for leaving.
He ached as he slowly opened his car door and got in. Along with the strange feeling in his chest, every part of his body hurt. He figured it was what old age must feel like. God knew, all he wanted was to go to sleep and never wake up.
Riley had his hands braced on the steering wheel, knuckles white, when there was a tap on his window. For a heartbeat, wild hope rushed through him. Maybe Jason—
He turned his head. And that fragile, ridiculous hope crumbled. It wasn’t Jason. Jesse Turner stood there, leaning one hip casually against the car.
“Mind telling us where you got that cockeyed story about an Argent?” he asked conversationally, as if everything Riley was hadn’t just been dismantled in front of him. “Wouldn’t mind setting the record straight.”
Riley didn’t even hesitate. There was no point in hiding it. There was no point in anything anymore. “Some drunk shifter,” he said. His voice sounded wrecked even to his own ears. “I didn’t get a name. He was killed in a bar fight.”
“And who says karma don’t exist?” Jesse murmured. The way he was looking at Riley made it clear he wasn’t only talking about the dead shifter. Then his gaze sharpened. “You want my advice? Don’t ever come back here.”
It wasn’t a threat, not really. More a warning.
Riley swallowed, his throat raw. “I’m not planning to.”
Jesse gave a short nod, like that settled it, before turning and walking away without a backward glance.
Riley stared after him for a while before he finally turned the key in the ignition. Gunning the engine, he got out of there.
JASON
Jason made it around the corner of the house, out of sight of Riley, of everyone, before collapsing against the wall, trembling. How could Riley expect him to believe he loved him after everything he’d done? He didn’t know what game Riley was playing now, other than to humiliate Jason completely.
Heat burned behind his eyes. Anger or shame—he couldn’t tell the difference anymore. And if he didn’t keep moving, it would all come flooding out. He pushed away from the wall and rounded the back of the house.
Bryce was waiting for him in the yard, leaning against the picnic table.
Jason hesitated, then changed course and headed toward him.
However much he craved the escape of shifting and running in the wilderness again, he had to make sure he’d told Matt and Bryce everything. The pack had to be protected.
Bryce’s eyes were warm and steady on his, the way they’d been since the very first time he’d walked into the diner and seen Jason. Bryce was probably the kindest person Jason had ever known, except for his mom.
“We’ve got you, Jase,” he said quietly, and Jason’s eyes flooded.
Fuck it. He couldn’t do this. He roughly wiped his arm across his face and cleared his throat, knowing his chin was quivering and giving him away.
Swallowing hard, he forced the words out past the tightness in his throat. “He thinks Matt wants political power and that he’s keeping Jesse secret only to unveil him at the right moment.” His voice wobbled perilously, and he clamped his mouth shut again.
Message delivered, he turned sharply away. But Bryce held him in place, his hand grasping Jason’s arm.
Jason slumped. All he wanted was to get away from everyone who’d seen his humiliation, but Bryce wouldn’t let him have even that.
“I get you want to lick your wounds in private,” Bryce said, and his voice was so understanding that Jason had to sniff hard, holding back the tears. “But we’re pack creatures for a reason. Sometimes we need not to be alone.”
Jason kept his face averted. “Why?” he blurted out at last, the question spilling from him in hurt and incomprehension. “Why is he my mate?” His voice broke on the last word. “I thought—I thought I was finally allowed to have something good.”
“Oh, God, Jason.” Bryce pulled him into a rough hug.
Jason had been rigid, trembling with the effort of holding himself together, but when Bryce pulled him close, he shattered. Bryce’s arms were strong and safe and pack, and Jason buried his face in his beta’s shoulder.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know why, but it’s not your fault your mate turned out to be—it’s not your fault, you hear me?”
Jason nodded as he gulped back his sobs. Maybe it helped to know that. Or maybe nothing could help how it felt to have found his mate, only to realize he was so untrustworthy, so without conscience or scruples that Jason could never love him.
Bryce’s arms tightened around him as Jason’s breath came unevenly.
“You want to come inside?” Bryce asked at last. His voice was low, like he knew how fragile Jason still was. “We’re your pack, Jason. Whatever else, you still have us.” His hand cupped Jason’s head, cradling him close. “You always will.”
Jason nodded, but he wasn’t ready to let go of Bryce yet. Because once he did, he’d have to face the world again. Face a world where Riley had never truly been his.